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town planning

Pope Sixtus appointed Domenico Fontana to give Rome a new urban layout. We should recall the political considerations behind the decisions of Pope Sixtus. It was a period of schisms, wars of religion, and conflicts of every type. Rome, as the centre of the Church, needed a new appearance and could no longer be a Medieval-looking town.

The Pope’s plan was to create a new street layout enabling pilgrims to go through the city and reach its churches.
The pilgrim route to Rome from the north was Via Flaminia, which ended at Piazza del Popolo; this was the starting point for the new network of streets for pedestrians, horses and carriages.

Domenico Fontana overcame the problems due to the local morphology, and moved an amount of earth that was extraordinary for the period, filling in dips, and linking the Basilica of St. Mary Major, along five streets, with St. John Lateran, Santa Maria del Popolo, the Column of Trajan and San Lorenzo.

The street now called Via Sistina gave access to Piazza Barberini and Trinità dei Monti.

All this was achieved in just 5 years, thanks to the work of many other engineers and architects besides Fontana, such as Carlo Maderno and Giacomo della Porta.
The fact that they were relatives and came from the Ticino area are unusual aspects.

Rome was transformed. The existing structures were utilised, creating new perspectives to inspire visitors with the sense of the majestic, monumental character of the city, centre of the Church.

With his positive rationality, Sixtus V rebuilt the Felice Aqueduct (from his own name), extended the Vatican Library and build the large Tevere Hospital (now called Santo Spirito) for 2,000 poor people.